Friday, February 15, 2013

Legislation Briefs February 15, 2013

Dear
SAOVA Friends,

Legislatures
are in session and HSUS is in high gear with their local Humane 101 Seminars
and Humane Lobby Days at state capitals.
If you have not attended a seminar in your area, you should do so in
order to bring yourself up-to-date on proposed legislative initiatives. Some of the seminars focus on teaching
lobbying skills. For example, a
Pennsylvania seminar utilizes the help of a former state senator to teach proven techniques for effective communication with
policy makers and how to organize advocates into a more potent force for
animals. In North Dakota you can not
only learn how to contact legislators but how to testify for animals at the
Capitol.

Lobby
Days have been scheduled in Jackson MS; Bismark ND; Boise ID; St. Paul MN;
Austin TX; Augusta ME, to name a few. In
Kentucky HSUS advises that by attending
Lobby Day 2013, advocates can meet legislators face-to-face and be instrumental
in helping to upgrade Kentucky's cruelty statutes, stop the abuse of Tennessee
Walking horses, and more.

The
world not only belongs to those who show up, it's controlled by the best
informed and most motivated. Thanks for
reading.

Cross
posting is encouraged.

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THE
LESSER PRAIRIE CHICKEN

The
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has recommended that the Lesser Prairie Chicken
be listed as a threatened species and will conduct four public hearings to
obtain comments on the Service’s proposal to list the lesser prairie-chicken as
a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (Act). Public hearings
will be held in Woodward, Oklahoma; Garden City, Kansas; Lubbock, Texas; and
Roswell, New Mexico.

Texas
Governor Rick Perry and the governors of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico and
Oklahoma issued a joint statement opposing the recent proposal to list the
chicken as threatened. "Individually,
our states have worked with a wide variety of interest groups to develop state
conservation plans designed to improve habitat for the species while also
taking into account economic development needs. Collectively, our agencies
released a GIS mapping tool that identifies the highest priority areas for
targeted species conservation, developed in a consistent way across our
political jurisdictions. This mapping tool has facilitated our agencies' work
together, and with land and mineral owners, to develop a range-wide
conservation strategy to ensure that a listing of the Lesser Prairie Chicken is
not warranted.” Source: http://tinyurl.com/ap3eu72

The U.S.
Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services’ (WS) National Wildlife Research
Center (NWRC) today announced that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) has granted regulatory approval for the use of GonaConTM - Equine
immunocontraceptive vaccine (GonaCon) in adult female wild or feral horses and
burros. GonaCon was developed by NWRC scientists and is the first
single-shot, multiyear wildlife contraceptive for use in mammals.

“Since 2009,
GonaCon has been available for use in female white-tailed deer. We are pleased
to be able to expand the vaccine’s application to include wild horses and
burros,” said NWRC Director Larry Clark. “This nonlethal tool will provide
another option to wildlife managers working to reduce overabundant wild horse
and burro populations in the United States.”

Overpopulation
of wild horses and burros is a significant concern in the United States, as
these animals can overgraze native plant species and compete with livestock and
local wildlife for food and habitat. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
estimates that approximately 37,300 wild horses and burros (about 31,500 horses
and 5,800 burros) are roaming on BLM-managed rangelands in 10 Western states.
The estimated current free-roaming population exceeds by nearly 11,000 the
number that the BLM has determined can exist in balance with other public rangeland
resources and uses. Current management options are limited with the majority of
actions involving the removal of horses and burros from the range and either
offering them for adoption or holding them indefinitely in captivity. The
BLM estimates there are more than 49,000 wild horses and burros off of
BLM-managed lands that are fed and cared for at short-term corrals and
long-term pastures.

The
GonaCon-Equine vaccine stimulates the production of antibodies that bind to the
gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) in an animal’s body. GnRH signals the
production of sex hormones (e.g., estrogen, progesterone and testosterone). By
binding to GnRH, the antibodies reduce GnRH’s ability to stimulate the release
of these sex hormones. All sexual activity is decreased, and animals remain in
a nonreproductive state as long as a sufficient level of antibody activity is
present. The product can be delivered by hand injection, jab stick, or darting.

GonaCon-Equine
is registered as a restricted-use pesticide, and all users must be certified
pesticide applicators or persons under their direct supervision. Full release at USDA/APHIS newsroom: http://tinyurl.com/b8kq7ro

SUIT
FILED TO END MIDWEST WOLF HUNT

HSUS,
Born Free
USA, and other groups filed a lawsuit this week to restore federal protections
for gray wolves in the western Great Lakes region that were lifted last year. The
lawsuit, filed in federal court in the District of Columbia against the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service and its parent agency, the U.S. Department of the
Interior, said the decision to take wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan
off the endangered list threatens the animals' recovery. Gray wolves recovered
to more than 4,000 combined in the western Great Lakes and northern Rocky
Mountain states by the time the government took them off the list in those
areas in January 2012. More at CNS News Minneapolis http://tinyurl.com/c94eq7j

MINNESOTA.HF 84 DOG AND CAT BREEDER LICENSING AND INSPECTIONAssigned to Civil Law Committee.Establish licensing and care standards for breeders who own
ten or more adult intact animals and whose animals produce more than five total
litters of puppies per year. Broadly defines hobby breeder and requires them to
register with the state. Penalties: a single correction order may assess a
maximum administrative penalty of $5,000.
Passed committee Feb. 14 by voice vote 66-61; referred toPublic Safety Finance and
Policy. Committee Contacts: http://tinyurl.com/bv95n2q

NEVADA. SB 82 Bear Hunting Ban
introduced. After failing to ban hunting bear with dogs, anti-hunting groups in
the state are working to ban all bear hunting. The Nevada Department of
Wildlife established a modest hunting season in 2011 after studies showed the
bear population was sustainable. Contact Senate members and Senate Natural Resources
Committee to oppose SB 82: http://leg.state.nv.us/App/Legislator/A/Senate/

RHODE ISLAND. Statewide BSL has
been introduced. H 5287 and S 178 would regulate all “pit bulls”, defined as
any dog that substantially conforms to the American Staffordshire Terrier or
Staffordshire Bull Terrier, or American Pit Bull Terrier standards. Dogs meeting the definition of “pit bull”
must be kept securely confined indoors, in a locked pen, or muzzled. Contact
the members of the following committees to oppose these bills:

Establishes
a list of potentially dangerous wild animals. Prohibits ownership, possession,
custody, control, and breeding of the specified animals. Anyone in legal
possession of a listed animal prior to January 1, 2014 may keep possession of
the animal for the remainder of its life with certain requirements. Referred to
the Committee on Natural Resources. http://tinyurl.com/a8zwjv5

* SB 1280 FOX AND
COYOTE ENCLOSURES by HSUS Humane Legislator Award winner, Senator David Marsden
(D-37): Senate substitute passed with a
24-16 vote and was assigned to the House subcommittee on Natural Resources,
where at Tuesday’s hearing the bill was laid aside indefinitely.